PGA DFS: First Cut Picks & Preview for the Waste Management Open

PGA DFS: This tournament will take place due east of San Diego, about five hours along the Mexican border. In fact, in parts you actually drive in Mexico. A fantastic field has assembled for the loudest hole in golf and the most well-attended tournament all year, the Waste Management Open. Crowds are insane, and it’s unlike any other tournament out there.

Gear up for another great week of DFS Golf leading up to the Superbowl!

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Here’s what you can expect to see in the article:

Tournament intro
Course commentary
Sweatsheet and scorecard
DFS preview
Player and statistical preview
Summary

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PGA DFS Tournament Intro: The Waste Management Phoenix Open

This Week’s Course(s): TPC Scottsdale

Tournament Format: 144 players, 36-hole cut on Friday after the conclusion of play.

Courses and Tournament Commentary

This is the greatest show on turf. Designed by Tom Weiskopf, this TPC Stadium course is the ultimate viewing experience at a golf event. The famed 16th hole that sits almost 16,000 fans just around that one hole. That’s the amount of total fans at some events. The course winds through the Arizona desert and plays to mid-teen winning scores most years. And that’s with only three par 5’s.

The tournament has been around for quite a long time and really took off when Tiger Woods made the hole-in-one on 16 and proceeded to “raise the roof” and pump the crowd up. From there, it’s morphed into what it has today, the most attended event of the year for any tournament, including majors.

TPC Scotsdale

Par and Yardage

Par 71 and 7,250 yards.

Course Difficulty 2019

24/49

Hole Dispersion

Par 3’s : 183, 215, 192, 163
The Par 4’s: 403, 442, 470, 432, 475, 453, 428, 472, 490, 332, 442
Par 5’s: 558, 558, 553

Grass Types

Bermuda throughout

Designer

Tom Weiskopf

PGA DFS Sweatsheet

PGA DFS Preview

50k added to the Pressure Putt prize pool, and all of it is going to first place. The $5 and $44 remain the same as last week.

Fantasy Golf Player and Statistical Preview

PGA DFS Commentary

Just about 40 golfers inside the world’s top 100 are here to compete this week, similar to the field last week. That includes three in the top 10 and eight of the top 20. The top end of the spectrum is a tad weaker than last week, as we had five inside the world’s top 10 play, but that makes this field deeper in the value section. Jon Rahm heads back to his old college stomping grounds, while Justin Thomas looks to best his record in the desert. Xander Scahuffele will look to bounce back after a tough missed cut last week at the Farmers, one that had him right on the number with plenty of missed chances on his back nine.

Gary Woodland starts that value section, and he, like Schauffele, will be looking to rebound after a rough week in San Diego. Bryson DeChambeau heads back from the Middle East to make his first start on the PGA Tour, and he, along with Hideki Matsuyama and plenty of others, makes this a very deep field this week.

PGA DFS Statistical Preview: Waste Management Open

Driving Accuracy vs. Driving Distance: The last few winners have all ranked inside the top 30 in driving distance, so that would lead us to believe distance is more important that accuracy. However, Rickie Fowler hit 70% of his fairways last year, Woodland 60% in 2018 and Matsuyama hit 66% in 2017. All ranked inside the top 20, with Fowler and Matsuyama inside the top six.
Strokes Gained Tee to Green Analysis: Fowler, unlike the two previous winners, Woodland and Matsuyama, got it done by having a fantastic tee ball. Woodland and Matsuyama were both good off the tee but were much better on the approaches. This is leading us to one thing: it’s a ball striker’s paradise.
Putting, How good do you need to be here?: Fowler was superb with the flat stick here last year, gaining 2.7 strokes per round. Woodland was OK the year before, gaining .85 per round, while Matsuyama barley gained any at all. So you don’t necessarily have to be good — see Matsuyama in 16 — but if you putt really well, you can win.

Join Ben Rasa and me Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on the Awesemo YouTube channel for some more great info on this week’s tournament.

Cheers!

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Author

Jason Rouslin

Jason established his roots in the littlest state that could...Rhode Island. But after 29 years of bitter cold, and only being able to play golf 4 months a year, upended those roots and moved to Florida. Now four years later, Jason is a husband to Sarah and father of two boys, James & Myles. A dog and more specifically Lab lover (Bella), he dedicates his time to serve as the lead of PGA content at Awesemo.com. In the time he is not diving into the PGA stats and covering this week's current tournament, you can find him researching and trading stocks, on the golf course, at Disney World, on a hike, or somewhere in between. Want to chat? Have a question about Golf/Stocks or anything else? Hop on twitter and give him a message @dfsgolfer23. You can also contact Jason by emailing [email protected].